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Annual Plants

Annual plants fall under two categories - hardy and half-hardy. Hardy annuals can be grown outdoors and will tolerate cooler tempratures, whereas the more tender half-hardy annuals need protection and must not be planted out until all risk of frost has passed. These delightful summer flowers add colour and interest to beds, borders, containers and hanging baskets. Use the selections in the left menu to select the right plants for your garden.

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A world exclusive collection of distinctly different sweet pea flowers - we believe 'Sweet Dreams' to be the best mixture ever! Each and every one, including many award winning varieties, has been selected for outstanding fragrance, exhibition standard blooms and superb growing performance.These cottage garden favourites are superb for cutting and the more blooms you cut, the more they will flower! Pop a few stems in a vase to fill a whole room with fragrance. Grow sweet peas against a sunny fence or trained on a free standing obelisk. For an informal display, let them scramble through mature shrubs. Height: 1.8m (6'). Spread: 30cm (12?). Supplied as deep-rooted plugs with an average of 5 sweet pea plants per plug. Pinched and ready for planting straight out.

The world’s first winter hardy calendula! Grow a summer favourite right through the winter months with new Calendula ‘Winter Wonders’. There will hardly be a month of the year when these tough calendula plants won’t be in bloom, making them the perfect choice for long-lasting easy-care pots and baskets. Breeding advancements ensure that as other summer bedding fades in autumn, our new pot marigold plants will carry on and on. Frost and snow? They love it! These perennials are hardy down to -15C. Use Calendula ‘Winter Wonders’ alongside more common winter bedding plants like pansies and primroses for a truly unique display. Supplied in four colour shades. Height and spread: 30cm (12").

A lovely, hand selected blend that combines traditional sweet pea colours and fragrance, with the straighter, stronger stems of modern varieties. Sweet Pea 'Scent Infusion' are superb for cutting and the more blooms you cut, the more they will flower! Pop a few stems in a vase to fill a whole room with fragrance. Grow sweet peas against a sunny fence or trained on a free standing obelisk. For an informal display, let them scramble through mature shrubs. Height: 1.8m (6'). Spread: 30cm (12").

Try something different in your containers this summer that will really get the neighbours talking. This cheery little helianthus has lax, trailing stems and a multi-branching habit that billow from hanging baskets in a mass of small sunflower blooms. Sunflower 'Inca Gold' can also be grown as spreading groundcover at the front of informal summer borders. Height: 30cm (12"). Spread: 45cm (18").

Bedding needn’t be boring - how about this 3-colour sweet pea mix for creating fabulous summer ground cover! These lovely dwarf sweet pea plants will quickly knit together to form a dense carpet of colour and fill the air with their unforgettable fragrance. Specially selected for their long flowering period and vigorous habit, Sweet Pea ‘Bounce Mixed’ is perfect for informal bedding displays, or edging paths and borders. Don’t forget to cut a few stems for a vase indoors too. Height: 25cm (10"). Spread: 30cm (12").

Customer RatingAlso known as Honeywort, this unusual annual bears rounded, blue-green leaves on slender, upright stems. From late spring onwards masses of nodding, rich purple flowers, surrounded by blue-purple bracts appear at the stem tips, which are highly attractive to bees. With a bushy habit, Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’ is a fantastic addition to annual beds or used to fill gaps in herbaceous borders, where it is happy in any well drained soil. Height: 60cm (24"). Spread: 45cm (18").More info

The perfect summer selection for vibrant bedding displays in the border. We've matched a range of colours, heights, textures and scents to ensure a winning garden display. Mix them up or set out in blocks - they'll look great no matter the arrangement. This collection comprises;Antirrhinum 'Candy Canes'Salvia 'Blaze of Fire'Nicotiana 'Eau de Cologne'Rudbeckia 'All Sorts Mixed'More info

As the name suggests, this superb Black Eyed Susan erupts into bloom weeks earlier than other perennial varieties and continues right up to the first frosts. Rudbeckia fulgida 'Early Bird Gold' produces its sunny-yellow, daisy-like blooms on sturdy, upright stems that make lovely cut flowers for a summer bouquet. Robust and easy to grow, this perennial Rudbeckia is ideal for bringing long lasting colour to herbaceous borders, attracting pollinating insects to its nectar rich blooms. Height and spread: 60cm (24").More info

The first of a new generation of high quality, fragrant snapdragons, in a flamboyant contemporary colour range. Tried and tested, Antirrhinum 'Candy Canes' Mixed is ideal for adding a bright splash of colour to cottage garden borders, and won't disappoint as a cut flower either. Height: 35cm (18?). Spread: 35cm (14?).

Hardy annual Poppy ‘Ladybird’ was developed from a species introduced from Russia in 1876 by our founder, William Thompson - and is still as popular as ever! Brilliant scarlet red petals are set off beautifully by the contrasting black spots at the base of each petal. Although each bloom lasts only a few days, more fat, hairy buds are constantly rising from among the clumps of finely cut foliage. This fabulous Caucasian Scarlet Poppy is so easy to grow and holds an RHS AGM for its superb garden performance. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 15cm (6").More info